HOWTO: Set up a kid’s profile on your Surface or Windows 8/RT device

One of the neat features of Windows Phone 8 is “Kid’s Corner” which essentially switches your phone into a children’s playground, presenting a custom START page of apps for your kid that you control. I for example, only have Sesame Street, First Start, and Angry Birds apps on mine. To switch out of this, you unlock the phone with your unlock PIN.

But how do you do that on Surface or Windows 8/RT device?

CREATING A ‘KID’S DESKTOP’ It’s quite simple really. You create a new Microsoft Account for your kid, a new profile for your kid on your tablet using that new account, and switch to it when he/she wants to play. This will allow you to:

ADDING YOUR PURCHASED GAMES/APPS TO YOUR KID’S PROFILE Now, by default, your kid won’t see any of the apps you’ve purchased & installed on the device you’re using, so the trick is making your Microsoft Account purchased apps available to this NEW profile. Remember that games (like Angry Birds Space) are present in YOUR profile on the machine using YOUR Microsoft Account, not other profiles like your kid’s – even if you’re both logging into the same machine.

Don’t worry – the process is simple. All you have to do to make your purchased games from YOUR Microsoft Account appear on your kid’s profile is:

Login to your kid’s profile then go to the Store.

Open Settings by swiping from the right.

Click “Your Account”. Your kid’s Microsoft Account should be listed as the currently logged in Microsoft Account.

Click “Change User” & enter in your Microsoft account details.

Click the ‘back button at the top. (<—)

Swipe down on the screen to reveal the “Your Apps” link. Click “Your Apps”. You should be presented with an list of all the Apps you own.

Select the Apps you wish to have available in this profile & click “Install”. Don’t worry – it won’t download & reinstall the apps. It’ll only make them available in this profile so it’ll be really quick if they’ve already been installed in another profile.

Pop out to the START screen and walla: You now have your selected apps available in your kid’s profile.